Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: thirstiness, dryness, parched, craving, strong desire, longing, yearning, avidity, hunger, voracity, keenness, eagerness, lust, appetite, passion, love, crave, want, covet, desire, hunger for/after, lust for/after, hanker for/after, have one's heart set on

Antonyms: aversion, distaste, apathy, dislike, hatred, antipathy, disgust, disregard, abhorrence, acrimony, wet, animosity, animus, antagonism, bad feeling, bitterness, be averse to, detestation

Showing 2401 to 2425 of 5000 results

2401. Hot Tubs and Fishing Trips

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Thomas Long

... the singers in Bernstein’s Mass express it: What I need I don’t have What I have I don’t own What I own I don’t want What I want, Lord, I don’t know ... What I say I don’t feel What I feel I don’t show What I show isn’t real What is real ... and that is the fear that we will ultimately be "uncalled for." This is the fear that no one will ever turn to us and say, "Come, I want you. I need you." This is the fear that who we are, and what we say, and what we do does not matter to anyone else. Like ...

2402. We Wish To See Jesus

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... said to Philip. "We wish to see Jesus." That is the request of many people in our world today. That may be your request today. I hope that it is. What we discover in this story from John’s Gospel is that, if we want to see Jesus, we should look to his glorification; if we want to see Jesus, we should look to his death on the cross. That is where Jesus himself directs our eyes. There are, as we have seen, many, many ways to portray Jesus. The central portrait, however, the image of Jesus that is to control ...

2403. Doubting Thomas

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe" (John 20:25). "If I don’t see it for myself, I won’t believe it." That was Thomas’s reaction to the witness of the disciples. Thomas represents all kinds of people who want some tangible evidence and proof for their faith. On the first Sunday after Easter Thomas was with the ten. Once again Jesus appeared to them. "Peace be with you," he said. Immediately he turned to Thomas. Doubting Thomas stood still to the gaze of Jesus of Nazareth ...

2404. Repentance and Forgiveness

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... out of his mouth: "I admit that I am powerless over alcohol and that my life has become unmanageable." The words of the "second step" brought some hope to his powerless situation. "I have come to believe that a power greater than myself can restore me to sanity." I want to leave Wendall Hayes for a few minutes. We will get back to him. Let us look again at the scripture story that this sermon is based on. It was Easter evening. Cleopas and a friend were joined on the road to Emmaus by a man they did not ...

2405. All-Out Love

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... a better one. It told of Donna, who was given only a few months to live after doctors discovered that she had a degenerative heart muscle. Her fifteen-year-old boyfriend had a premonition about his own death. He told his mother that, when he died, he wanted Donna to have his heart. Three weeks later he died from a burst blood vessel in his brain. His heart was implanted in Donna, just as he had wished. Both stories help us understand the meaning of "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," but neither is ...

2406. Bell-Bottoms that Scared the Devil

Luke 6:37-38

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... were popular when Jesus lived. Today I have one of these instruments with me and I am going to play it for you. But first I want you to hear a story about the bell. (Hold up a small bell.) Many, many years ago the people who lived in the land where ... that the evil spirits made them sick, unhappy, and very poor. Now the evil spirits were everywhere, but the one place that the people wanted to make sure that the evil spirits didn’t stay in was the beautiful temple. For a long time they wondered what to do ...

2407. The Gift

Drama

Esther Lense

... What would you call him? EVE: I’d call him Emmanuel. That means "God with us." And God IS with us, whenever we call to him. Yes, I think that would be a good name for him. ADAM: Well, whatever his name will be, I hope he comes soon. I want to be with God again. Please, God, won’t you send Emmanuel soon? Congregation sings O Come, O Come, Emmanuel as these characters leave and the prophet Malachi enters. READER: After Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden and sin entered the world, the history of man is a ...

2408. The Discipline of Witnessing

Isaiah 43:1-13

Sermon

... individually to someone about Jesus Christ. I’m not sure that I have a choice - and neither do you! We are told, "You shall be my witnesses." Jesus is quite specific, here. If we really take him seriously, we are sent forth to tell others. Why don’t we want to witness? Embarrassment, of course, and a number of things. If the truth were known the basic reasons for our failures to talk about Christ can be reduced to three: either 1) we don’t know what we believe or 2) we know what we believe and don’t ...

2409. Let Me Use My Leftovers

Luke 9:10-17

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... church (Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic, Brethren, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, etc.) will buy the tractors and tools, and give them to the people in the world who do not have enough food to feed their children. Someday those people who have nothing will have leftovers that they will also want to share. God will be making another miracle. He will be feeding millions and millions, which is even more than the first 5,000. How do we begin? Just like this: I am going to give you one of the bowls today. You meet me ...

2410. A WALL OF ROCK AND THE EVERYBODY GAP

Drama

William McKee Aber

... and hate and no sentimental evasion of this problem can be tolerated. The scene you see happens every morning ... witness it, use your respective insights, and speak to what happens here; are we agreed? (both nod in agreement) Sue: Jack - JACK! You’d better hurry up if you want your eggs to be warm. You know your ride usually is here at a quarter to. Jack: Sue, if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times, don’t squeeze the toothpaste in the middle - use the end; the END and ROLL IT! (pause ...

2411. Judas

Luke 22:1-6

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... that way. It didn’t. Of course, all of the people did not like Jesus. Some of them were so angry with him that they wanted to kill him. They were afraid of him because of the things that he said and because the people loved him so much. They told ... were no crowds of people, if they would give me thirty pieces of silver. That was a lot of money, but I didn’t just want the money. I wanted to be one of the religious rulers and I thought that they would remember me and be thankful to me for what I did. ...

2412. Simon of Cyrene

Luke 23:26-43

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... the Temple at Jerusalem during the holy days of Passover. My home was Cyrene where I lived with my wife and sons. I had always wanted to come to Jerusalem where people worshiped in the great temple. It was only after I arrived that I heard about the trial of a ... a man covered with blood carrying a cross. I knew the Romans crucified their criminals, but I never expected to see such a thing. I wanted to get out of the way, take another street, but the crowd had closed around me and I could not move. I looked at ...

2413. Something Good Can Come From Nazareth

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Brett Blair

... I could have it and the man tossed it over to him. He missed the catch; the turnip fell to the ground. But Buechner wanted it so badly that he picked it up and started eating it anyway, mud and all. And then he had a transforming moment. Here is ... call a muddy turnip moment. A moment with Jesus that transformed him. A moment where joy flooded into his world and made him want to go out and speak to someone. He found Nathanael. But you can understand Nathanael’s skepticism. Look at what Phillip is asking him ...

2414. The Chosen One

John 1:43-51

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... ? He tends to do that. You need to stay away from this guy. He could get you into something you don't want to be in. You could get in trouble with the religious authorities. MINISTERING ANGEL: But what about Philip? Remember, he said, "Come ... forth to me, the Messiah. DISTURBING ANGEL: This is really getting out of hand. You're an intelligent man. Do you really think he wants people to take him seriously? NATHANAEL: Wait a minute! I believe him. Get out of here. DISTURBING ANGEL: Now, that's no way ...

2415. Money Madness

Philippians 4:11-13

Children's Sermon

Shirley Jennings

... He thought to himself, "I wish I could find lots of rocks like this one. Maybe I could sell them for enough money to buy a soccer ball." (Show the children your empty billfold.) What have you ever wanted but couldn’t buy because you didn’t have enough money? A ball, clothes, shoes. How do you feel when you don’t have enough money to buy something you want very much? That’s how I feel too: sad or mad. Grown-ups sometimes feel sad or mad, too, when they don’t have enough money to buy something they ...

2416. The Mystery of His Presence

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Richard Patt

... these kinds of questions, the truth is that we are probably probing into even deeper questions, the questions about real religion. "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" When we ask that, as did these folks of old, we are joining those searchers who want to know whether there is any such thing as "real religion." Does God really touch our lives in concrete ways, or have most of us merely been trained to say that God touches our lives? Where is God truly present in our world? Have we not merely claimed ...

2417. No Huggies

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

... that he bite his brother. Guess what he did? I learned then that a child is eager to obey, eager to serve, including in much more positive ways than biting a brother! In the child Jesus identifies the model of the disciple, the model of the person who wants to follow him. In the child Jesus finds the model for us. The children in the gospel were receptive and willing to receive the gift of the Kingdom, the gift of Jesus himself, and, as children, they were able to joyfully respond to that gift. The gift was ...

2418. Lifting the Burden of Guilt

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... be forgiven?" Only this! How do you answer? I spoke to the one in the darkness: "Yes! Yes, you can be forgiven, if you truly want to be forgiven. All the love of God, all the suffering of Christ on a Cross say you can be forgiven. Christ says to you ... grievously, if he would rush into this room at this minute and say, ‘I have been false to you; I have let you down. I want to be forgiven. Dad, can you forgive me? Dad, please forgive me.’ What would you do? Would you turn him down? Or, would you forgive ...

2419. Spiritual Blindness

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... - who lived with his mother. I immediately thought of my sermon, and tactfully put it aside for a year. I did not want to run the risk of offense on so delicate an issue. I carefully noticed the man and his mother never came to ... this my prayer, O blessed Lord, "Thy will be done in me!"5 Bartimaeus Bartimaeus alone called, "Jesus ... have mercy on me!" Jesus responded, "What do you want me to do for you?" There are times when all of us must throw off the mantle, rush up to the Living Christ, and ask, ask, ...

2420. Counting The Cost?

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... ; it was giving out of a full heart. An elderly lady in Savannah, Georgia, came to me the day I was leaving to return to Seminary. I had served as youth minister for the summer. "You will have no use for it," she said, "but I made it, and I want you to have something my hands have created." With that she gave me a crocheted piece. I’m still not sure exactly what it was - combination scarf, handkerchief - and I certainly had no use for it, but I’ve never forgotten the gift nor the lady! A number of years ...

2421. How Life’s Pressures Affect Good Judgment

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Brett Blair

... life are at best only the second and third best answers; they are not the first. Why is this? It is because we don’t want to address puzzling moral dilemmas head on because it means facing them heart on. Look at Herod. He finds himself in a difficult situation. He ... her point of view. I feel pressured to become her brand of Christian, but I keep thinking if it means being like her, I don't want it at all. When she calls, I just put the phone on my shoulder and let her rant on while I do other things. A half ...

2422. The Shadow Ascending

John 21:15-25

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... What Might Be Done? If we reflect on this predicament to see what might be helpful, we might see that no one can really demand that the alcoholic stop drinking to solve his problems. Human beings always retain their free wills. We can also see that unless we want to believe in magic or go on fantasy trips, the alcoholic is locked into his illness and won’t miraculously come out of it by himself. The only possibility for change, therefore, is if the other players in Act II choose to get off of the merry-go ...

2423. Ready or Not - Here I Come

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... far we are from the same concern and same condition in today's world? Have we not the right to pray for the same? Again, they prayed for Jesus' return because it meant their salvation. Unlike many of us the first Christians were not afraid of the Parousia. They wanted Jesus to come, for he was going to come for them and take them to heaven. This is known as the "rapture." It was a union of Christ and the believer, and Christ would gather his sheep and they would go into the kingdom of eternal life. This was ...

2424. Light of the World

John 1:1-18

Sermon

William G. Carter

... . The priest was in tears when he visited the boy in a detention cell. “Why did you do it?” he asked. “I saw all those beautiful things,” said the boy, “and then I came home and saw how ugly my world was, and I hated the ugliness, so I wanted to burn it down.” Shine some light in a dark place and there’s no telling what will happen. When all you have ever seen is darkness, that is all you know. And when light comes, it makes for a contrast. Darkness remains a choice. In fact, it is possible ...

2425. In, But Not Of, The World

Jeremiah 29:1-23

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... not been a demand that you start living differently. We have just been describing who you already are. You see, Christians, you are not of this world. But you are in it. You may as well be yourself, be the person you are. This world is not really what you want. You’ll only be happy, only be true to the “you” that God has made you to be, when you live a life for the world (a life dedicated to making things better in the world). No, Jeremiah and I as God’s mouthpieces and puppets are not telling you ...

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